Help picking out external HD enclosure

audiobliss

I'm looking for an external enclosure so I can use my Samsung 1TB internal HD with my laptop. I have no idea what to look for in external cases, but I do know I want it cheap and I want to be able to get it at WalMart or Staples (only two places in town) since I don't want to wait on shipping. If there's a huge difference in price and/or functionality, then I can wait on shipping and get it an newegg.

What should I look for? Do I want it to use an AC adapter? I'll really only use it at my desk when I'll be plugged in most of the time, so I don't suppose it'd be an issue with draining my laptop's battery.

Help educate this n00b!

Thanks!

Serendipity

You'll want an enclosure with a power supply - some of the ones for portable use don't include a power supply, and therefore require two USB cables for power. I prefer the ones that have cooling fans and are made out of thermally dissipating material.

dee1949

...there are also gadgets like below that can use many different internal hard drives.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=T-100BK&cat=CSE

...other cheap choices

http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=CSE

...make sure to match SATA or ide

Pauly

I bought this one for HTPC

http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1337265&Sku=V13-3210

Pauly

WilliamM2

I've never seen bare enclosures at Walmart or Staples, just complete units with hard drive installed already. You may have to deal with shipping.

polktiger

I haven't been to Wally World in years. At staples, all I see are the external HDs that already include the integrated drive.

I would wait and get this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042&cm_re=rosewill_enclosure_esata-_-17-173-042-_-Product

bobman1235

I bought this guy to use with my Wii. Accepts PATA and SATA, has a power supply (wall wart), works well, reasonable price.

http://www.amazon.com/Acomdata-Samba-3-5-Inch-Enclosure-SMBXXXU2E-BLK/dp/B000VNJD18

Jstas

I have 4 of these:

http://www.cyberguys.com/product-details/?productid=14687#page=page-1



No problems.

audiobliss

Ok, so I went down to Staples and bought a Antec VERIS HD enclosure. I really really like it as I can tell it's pretty well made, looks nice, and has a built-in fan and IS QUIET. The only two downsides are it's a bit large and it is EXPENSIVE. I paid $65 for it. But, now I have an idea of what I like, and so I think I'll try to find something similar on newegg to buy, and return this one before the 14 days is up.

I'm tempted to go with that Rosewill unit, but I'm not sure I like how big and open the grill section is (for accidentally dropping things in with the HD). I also like how this one came with every connection imaginable (power cable, USB cable, eSATA cable, eSATA expansion for my desktop, etc). It also has rubber grommets inside for absorbing shock.

This one looks promising to me, assuming I can yank the stupid blue LED's on the fan. However, some of the reviews mention pretty negative cons. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153061

Really, I can't seem to find anything online that appears I would like as much as this Antec unit. Which sucks since I don't want to have $65 tied up in it.

Jstas

Lasareath wrote: »

And now they make this!!!, I might have to buy one!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133182&cm_re=blacx-_-11-133-182-_-Product

That's a sweet case!

Forget gaming rig, that'd make an awesome file server rig or a rig for diagnostics on a hard drive.